Capturing a Mood: Sexy

Third and final instalment in posts I have been sharing along this theme. It's been around three weeks since I shared the first one, which honestly feels like a decade ago! This one is probably my favourite, always good to save the best until last. And as it involved getting a little dressed up, hopefully will serve for a little bit of party wear inspo too! I spoke in yesterday's video a little about how different clothes can inflict a certain mood, and the idea of dressing to feel sexy is one that interests me a lot. I think because it's probably one of the most personal things and feelings, because it's so closely tied in with body confidence and what makes you feel sexy. For me, it's never about tight fitting and flashing a lot of skin, although these aspects to play a part within it all.

I don't think that any of the clichés about dressing sexily such as 'leaving something to the imagination' or 'boobs or legs, never both' really have to apply at all. Because if you're feeling super body confident and decide you want to go out in a crop top and a mini skirt then it's going to look good, because you will feel so good in it. This is what I mean about it being a personal thing, because no matter how body confident I am feeling I personally would never feel good in a combination like that. For me, it's all about minimal combinations that play on proportions that really make you want to look at the details of an outfit. Oversized shirts tucked into tight fitting jeans, a crop top with wide legged trousers, a mini dress with an oversized blazer. Slight juxtapositions within an outfit which make things feel a little more interesting, and something you really want to look at. This outfit for instance; this skirt is one of the shortest I own, if I teamed this with a low cut top I would begin to feel uncomfortable and spend the evening tugging at my outfit while worrying I was flashing a little too much. But when worn with a really day-to-day piece, like this high neck knit, it makes me feel so much more confident.

Over the knee boots have to be one of the sexiest items you can wear too. The option show just a slither of thigh is always an effortless way to introduce something sexy into an outfit. I love the skinny fitting pairs, but these & Other Stories ones have been a recent favourite of mine. The slouchy fit is so awkward, and frankly hard to style, that they make an outfit so much more interesting. They way they sit away from the leg also has a super slimming effect, and (oddly) they don't fall down at all when you walk which really baffles me because I really thought they would.

As I said at the beginning of this post, I have found dressing sexily easier and easier since I have been more aware of my body through exercising. It's inevitable that exercising increases an awareness of how you look, because you are looking for progress and change, and feeling stronger in different parts of yourself. This awareness made me think more and more about what my favourite parts of my own body were, and how to dress to emphasise those if I wanted to feel sexier. This is going to be so, so different for everyone of you reading this, and I think it takes a bit of experimenting to find an outfit that you wear and look in the mirror and feel super confident. For instance, no matter how much I work out I am never going to feel confident in a body con outfit. It just makes me feel so aware of every part of my body, and doesn't feel 'me' at all. But if I wore one with a men's blazer over the top, then I would suddenly feel amazing!

Of all the moods, I think sexy is the easiest to capture. Because it comes through in a confidence. I felt great in this outfit when we shot these photos, and for me it really shows in the images. When I was 17/18 me and my friends used to go out in Leeds most weekends. We would spend the week in school planning what we could all wear, and getting ready was a huge part of the night. We would all go to one persons house, spend hours sticking on false lashes, curling out air, using that instant fake tan that streaked in the rain. We all loved to wear short dresses that flashed as much skin as possible. Backless, low cut, mini, skin tight - we went for it. We would then have drinks at home, dance around the kitchen, and take loads of photos. Whenever I look back on these photos, while I would never wear those outfits now, it makes me feel how I feel when I see these photos. Looking at something where I knew I felt good and confident, even though that has changed so much in the past seven years.